Students evaluate and discuss statements about the evolutionary relationship between birds and dinosaurs and other facts about these groups, before and after watching the short film Great Transitions: The Origin of Birds. Also available in Spanish.

This activity serves as a supplement to the HHMI short film The Origin of Species: The Making of a Theory. Students read and analyze excerpts from texts written by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace and answer questions about the information presented, developing their nonfiction reading comprehension.

Students are challenged to identify “fact patterns,” or patterns that emerge from a collection of different facts and observations, and draw conclusions about what they suggest. Also available in Spanish.

This activity supports the HHMI short film The Origin of Species: The Making of a Theory. Students are presented with a map of the Malay Archipelago and some field notebooks with observations of animals. By plotting which animals are found on which island, the students discover the Wallace Line—a sharp boundary that separates distinct Asian and Australian fauna.

This activity supports the viewing of the film The Origin of Species: The Making of a Theory. Before and after watching the film, students discuss and evaluate several statements about Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and the specific evidence that led each of them to the theory of evolution by natural selection.